So You Want To Ship...

[fischfan13]

Check out this article from Popular Mechanics...

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/tests/which-shipping-company-is-kindest-to-your-packages

[joe_jaskot]

I buy lots of items on line. Packages are delivered by FedEx, UPS and USPS. Most packages arrive intact. Packages that are damaged are usually heavy items or items that were not packaged properly by the shipper. Items marked fragile are usually treated the worse. (I think they play basketball with the fragile packages). If I had to rate the shipping companies, UPS would be first, followed by FedEx and then the USPS. The post office is the worst. Most heavy items arrive with broken or damaged boxes. Items get broken no matter how well they are packaged. Collecting on an insurance claim is a pain in the a$$. Better have receipts of purchase.

[exasperatus2002]

I buy lots of items on line. Packages are delivered by FedEx, UPS and USPS. Most packages arrive intact. Packages that are damaged are usually heavy items or items that were not packaged properly by the shipper. Items marked fragile are usually treated the worse. (I think they play basketball with the fragile packages). If I had to rate the shipping companies, UPS would be first, followed by FedEx and then the USPS. The post office is the worst. Most heavy items arrive with broken or damaged boxes. Items get broken no matter how well they are packaged. Collecting on an insurance claim is a pain in the a$$. Better have receipts of purchase.

I concur usps is the worse. They even lost my wifes paycheck when she worked for a temp agency. We got it after 2 months. After the temp agency made us jump thru hoops for them to cancel it & reissue a new check.

[fischfan13]

I guess I will disagree with both of you and agree with the article.
I have found Fedex to be the absolute worst of the 3...nothing even compares to how poor they are.

[CrabbyMatty]

I use only FedEx to ship fish and wouldn't even consider another service.

[Longstocking]

I use USPS and UPS.... I think in all the years I have been shipping I have had maybe a total of 5 problems. I have been shipping many years... so that is not bad at all!

I agree with the article... 100%

Fedex STINKS! They deliver to the wrong place... damage boxes... the list goes on. DHL is pretty bad too.

I have used all of these.... I stick with what is cheapest and best for the people I ship to. Lots of repeat buyers due to the cost of my shipping :)

[Heyguy74]

I've had a bad experience with Fed Ex. I have no problem with UPS. UPS ground is a great way to ship if its with the one day service area. Its very cheap. An added bonus is if you are willing to have the pacakge delivered to your local UPS Service Center you can pick the pacakage up by 9 AM. This way the pacakge doesn't sit on the truck all day. This cost you nothing extra. Also remember it cost more to deliver to a residental address than a buisness one. Its only a few bucks but its still money.

[F8LBITE]

great article. We use UPS here at work and rarely have problems.

[Longstocking]

A lot of companies use fedfex due to the bulk rate discount they give. If my fish don't get there or are damaged... I don't care what kind of discount I get :lol:

[the_watcher]

I have been shipping fish since 1978 using USPS. I have had verry few problems as long as I don't ship during XMAS, Thanksgiving time frames. When shipping I consider the delivery zone days the post office say a package will get there . This will determine if the fish will go Priority Mail or Overnight Express also I have to consider the size of the fish. If the fish were shipped USPS Overnight Express and did not get there on time I got my shipping money back..... I don't think that this practice still exists today ? ...
In the last 2 years I have been turn onto to using UPS... so far no problems. And the cost can be very cheap based on your UPS shipping zone.. So like I said no problems either way .... Knock on wood LOL :beerchug:

Drive safe :eclipsee_steering: and
Happy holidays to all :beerchug::beerchug::beerchug:

[QuarterMiler]

I've only shipped a few times to this point, but I've had no issues with the USPS. As watcher said, I check delivery based on what the buyer wants and distance. It also helps that we have a friend in the local post office, but ultimately he doesn't really handle the box. I usually don't mark my boxes live fish either. I did have the main PO call here once because they felt liquid in the box, but they were OK with it once they knew what it was. One quirk that they have is Express to certain areas can be 2 days. My guess is it must have something to do with proximity to a major airport. For example, I had a buyer in Michigan who's address was 2 days but her parents house in a different zip only 3 miles from her, was next day. I've checked other areas where the same thing showed up on delivery times.

[dogofwar]

I always receive fish "Hold at Location" at the shipping center or post office.

It's just one less hand off for the delivery folks to screw up. The guys at my local UPS and USPS even know to call me...and keep the box in a warm place :)

The biggest problem that I have with shipping is people on the other end. Sadly, there are a lot of scammers and thieves out there...

Matt